Tonight is Halloween, and I get stuck in bloody Massachusetts. I have been here for the past 4 Halloween's (Plus a few other occasions), and it's terrible. It's not that I hate Massachusetts or anything, but all my relatives here are weirdos. Actually, that's a bit too harsh: They're not weirdos... they just act, "different". Like my Aunt Salina, she never shuts her mouth (Especially when eating). Even when she has nothing to talk about, she's makes some kind of noise all the time. My uncle William (Likes to be called "Billiam"), always is drunk. Even when he doesn't smell like it or act like it, he's drunk. I am surprised he hasn't died of alchohal poisoning yet. They're only child, Rupert (My Cousin), has a penitent for torturing small animals, especially frogs that are all too common near them. Then there's Richard (Uncle), Marian (Aunt), Bartholomew and Clementine (Cousins); I've only met once for they are reclusive, and they looked (and acted) as if they lived in the Victorian Era.
But none of them are as weird as my one Uncle: His name is Maurice. Maurice was a quiet individual, always looking over his shoulder, never entering a dark room. One time, when my Friends stayed over while Maurice was around, they decided to be "funny" and look him in the basement (the light stopped working in the basement. He was hollering and clawing at the door for minutes until they let him out. Last Halloween, Uncle Maurice looked like he was sick. His eyes were red, his skin was pail, and his nails were untrimmed. He seemed sluggish and unresponsive. He also looked like he was about to break down in tears when the party was ending. I finally decided to ask him "Uncle.. Is something wrong"
Maurice looked at me and said in his weak voice "Yes, but... But you won't believe me if I tell you..."
That only got my curiosity, so I asked him to tell me. He sighed and then agreed, but told me we had to do it in secret. I was a little worried, but agreed. He took me to a study (after turning on all the lights available, of course) that had been in the house. It looked like no one used that room in ages. He sat on the chair at a desk and began to tell me his story.
"I used to live in a dorm at Assumption College at Worcester. Me and several people, including my brother, your Uncle Billiam, were a part of the same fraternity. We used to be the most popular members of it, so we were the leaders. I don't remember exactly what our fraternity was called, but it was named after an important star or something like that.
Well, about this night 20 years ago, 2 new college students wanted to join our fraternity. We were excited, but since all fraternities at the time had extreme ways of joining, we didn't know what to do (All members at the point had been the original founders and didn't have to go through the initiation). We studied for an hour or so until coming across a bit of history in the city.
Apparently, near by the college, is an abandoned mansion where English Nobles would live when they visited the America's. I recently widowed Duchess, Margaret I believe her name to be, moved in right before the American Revolution, and she was hanged for being a traitor. Ever since then, the house had been abandoned, and apparently haunted by her ghost. We thought this the perfect opportunity.
At about 8:50, the 17 of us, and the new college students, hoped over the gate of the historic mansion and through the tall un-kept grass. We all stood at the door of the mansion and handed the first College student a Candle. We told him to 'reach the top floor of the Mansion and stay in there for 10 minutes. Then come back down and you're in the fraternity'. Well, he paused for a moment, then went in. We could see his candle light on the first floor as it slowly, with several pauses, went to the second floor. It moved around the floor then preceded up to the third floor. Upon reaching it, however, the light vanished. We all assumed it was near a gust of wind or something, and we waited.
10 minutes passed, 20. Soon it was 10:00 and he hadn't come down. We all began to get worried, so we decided to send the other kid in there with a flash light. He went in, and walked up the stairs to the 3rd floor. But when it reached the 3rd floor, the light went out. We thought it a bit too coincidental, but none of us were willing to enter the building, so we waited for them.
Soon it was 11: 50, and with no sight of the others, we all decided to go in together. All of us were equipped with flash lights as we went up the first group of stairs, then then the second. When we reached the third floor, we heard a small splash. Below our feet, was blood. We all screamed in terror, a few of us flew down the stairs! One sprained himself doing so. The blood was fresh, and we all started to panic, with several of the fraternity running out of the house. The blood lead a trail to the attic. Only me, Billiam, and a 3rd guy, Marc, went up there with the rest staying on the 3rd floor.
When we reached the attic, it was completely empty. The blood trail ended in a pool of it (Causing us to scream again). At first, we decided that this was a cruel joke those guys played. But after searching the attic, we found no hidden passages or anything. We told the guys downstairs to check all the house, only to find nothing or no one, and that all of the doors and windows out of the house were barricaded. But, there was a window in the attic that looked over the back yard, that wasn't barricaded. We thought they left a prank on us and left through this window (even though it was an incredible hight). We all left the mansion, but once we did, we heard a loud strike of thunder that made us high tail it back to our frat room.
The next morning, we were sure we'd see them in class, but they never showed up. A week passed and they never returned. When the school started to wonder where they had went, we decided to tell the Dean. He immediately called the cops, and they searched through the Mansion, only to find nothing.
And that was the last we ever talked about the Mansion. The frat was suspended (as well as a number of us), and we all went our seperate ways.
However, the weird thing is, that every year since then, all the members of the Frat have been killing themselves, dieing randomly, or going insane. I thought nothing of it until 3 years ago when Billiam, sobbing, told me he had seen the Duchess Margaret, and that her face was twisted and monstrous. He said it was going to one day get him.
I don't know if what he said or saw was true, but just last week, my mirror broke right in front of me as I was preparing for bed, and then I heard a woman laughing maniacly...
... I haven't slept in days, and I just don't think I'll live next Halloween..."
He then began to cry, and feeling scared, I hastily walked to the door back to the main room. As I walked out he stopped, looked at me, and said "Goodbye, nephew..." in a weird way and I closed the door. I didn't tell my parents or anyone else at the party, for upon reflection of it, I thought it pretty insane.
Now it's one year since then. I haven't seen or heard of Maurice since. Uncle Billiam has the same symptoms as Maurice did a year ago. Salina has been trying to keep Billiam in good health, but she says he's not trying to get better. The party is nearly ending, and Billiam looks like he's about to break down in tears; the same as Uncle Maurice a year ago...
... Like I said, my Massachusetts relatives are weird. I guess we all are a bit weird. I am a bit weird too, I suppose. Sometimes, when I try to go to sleep, I hear a womans giggle. And sometimes, just sometimes, when I stare really hard into glass, I see a Woman with a twisted face and an evil smirk.
